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2 amazing films at the New Jersey Film Festival today!

By Al Nigrin

originally published: 02/07/2025

God Teeth  screens with the short The Traumatist at the Spring 2025 New Jersey Film Festival on Friday, February 7.  The film will be Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 7 PM in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ.  Tickets are available for purchase here.

The Traumatist – Michelle Beck (Brooklyn, New York) In this psychological thriller, Avery Vaughn, played by Amelia Workman (Anita Tucker, A Thousand and One), searches for retribution and release from her childhood traumas. She enlists the help of Dr. Theodore Hubbell, a questionable character with an unorthodox method of trauma therapy. The “Immersive Retribution Trauma Therapy” program, or IRTT, provides a cathartic release through vengeful and violent reenactments. Starring the talented Robert Picardo (The Doctor, Star Trek Voyager) as Dr. Hubbell, this stirring piece of fiction is told with suspense, passion, and humor. See how one person’s trauma can last generations and the lengths someone will go to make their oppressor pay. 2024; 15 min.

God Teeth – Robbie C. Williamson (Puntaneras, Costa Rica) God Teeth is a wildly original and fantastical odyssey about four recently deceased souls who find themselves on an abandoned ship at sea. Part confessional, part elegy, the narrators must recount the circumstances which led to their untimely deaths, before a marauding gang of sting rays destroys their memories, banishing them to an eternity in purgatory. Created entirely from found internet footage, God Teeth offers the viewer a new and profound experience culled from the infinite digital world and turns it into a thought provoking, cinematic song of mourning and acceptance - The glory of life and death. Boom, a 10-year-old swimmer endeavors to make sense of the loss of her father in a world of dragons, magical sea creatures and underwater superheroes, but will she be destined to repeat history? Albert, leather clad and speeding through a tunnel, flashes back to his life wandering the streets of Hong Kong in search of desire and connection, but with an increasing sense of unease and isolation, he must finally confess to a long-held and shameful secret. Rose, an ambitious sports agent is on the cusp of experiencing a career defining moment, when out of the blue, she takes a bold left turn - with horrific and unintended consequences. Devoted family man, Campbell, speaks only in third person as he reluctantly recalls a raging forest fire that would forever change his existence, leaving him stuck atop a thousand-foot pole. 2024; 60 min.

The 43rd Bi-Annual New Jersey Film Festival will be taking place on select Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays between January 24-March 2, 2025. The Festival will be a hybrid one as it will be presented online as well as doing in-person screenings at Rutgers University. All the films will be available virtually via Video on Demand for 24 hours on their show date. VoD start times are at 12 Midnight Eastern USA. Each General Admission Ticket or Festival Pass purchased is good for both the virtual and the in-person screenings. Plus, acclaimed singer-songwriter Renee Maskin will be doing an audio-visual concert on Friday, February 21 at 7PM and there will be a special benefit in-person screening of the film Bucha on March 2 at 5PM! The in-person screenings and the Renee Maskin concert will be held in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ beginning at 5PM or 7PM on their show date. General Admission Ticket=$15 Per Program; Festival All Access Pass=$120; Bucha Benefit Screening=$20; In-Person Only Student Ticket=$10 Per Program. For more info go here: https://newjerseyfilmfestivalspring2025.eventive.org/welcome

 




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About the author:

Albert Gabriel Nigrin is an award-winning experimental media artist whose work has been screened throughout the world. He is also a Cinema Studies Lecturer at Rutgers University, and the Executive Director/Curator of the Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center, Inc.


EVENT PREVIEWS

Al Nigrin, Executive Director and Curator of the New Jersey International Film Festival, sits down at EBTV with Ashley Gerst -- Director and Animator of the film Sundays for a filmmaker interview. Sundays will be screened on Saturday May 30, 2026.
2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Interview with Middle Life Director Pavan Moondi

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Interview with Middle Life Director Pavan Moondi

Here is Festival Director Al Nigrin’s interview with Pavan Moondi. Pavan is the director and writer of the terrific Canadian feature film Middle Life. Middle Life screens with two shorts at the New Jersey International Film Festival on Saturday, May 30, 2026.
2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Interview with Counterfeit Kids Director/Writer James Sclafani!

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Interview with Counterfeit Kids Director/Writer James Sclafani!

Here is Festival Director Al Nigrin’s interview with Counterfeit Kids Director/Writer James Sclafani! Counterfeit Kids screens at the New Jersey International Film Festival on Saturday, May 30, 2026.
Terrific animation Godzilla’s Day Off screens at the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival on May 30!

Terrific animation Godzilla’s Day Off screens at the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival on May 30!

I loved the introduction to the short animated film Godzilla's Day Off by Myra Sito Velasquez. It was very retro and fun. I love, love, love this style of animation, it's very South Park which is the reason I was so drawn to this piece. It's very nostalgic for me as my dad was always watching South Park when I was growing up #cartman #godzillabuiltlikecartman #southparkxgodzilla #cartmansdayoff.
Trenton Filmmaker Phillip McConnell to Premiere New Short Film "Tell Me Where We Stand"

Trenton Filmmaker Phillip McConnell to Premiere New Short Film "Tell Me Where We Stand"

(HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, NJ) -- Independent filmmaker Phillip McConnell will premiere his new short film, Tell Me Where We Stand, at Mill One on Sunday, May 31, 2026, bringing together local artists, performers, and members of the community for an evening celebrating independent film and storytelling.
2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Video Interview with What We Dreamed of Then Director Taylor Olson

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Video Interview with What We Dreamed of Then Director Taylor Olson

Al Nigrin, Executive Director and Curator of the New Jersey International Film Festival, interviews What We Dreamed of Then Director, Writer and Actor Taylor Olson. What We Dreamed of Then will be screened on May 31, 2026.
Moving feature What We Dreamed of Then screens at the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival on May 31

Moving feature What We Dreamed of Then screens at the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival on May 31

It is rare for a film to capture a major social issue and equally rare for a film to burrow its way into audiences’ hearts. What We Dreamed of When does both and on a budget that wouldn’t even cover lunch on a Hollywood film set.
2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Video Animation Panel

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Video Animation Panel

Here is the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Video Animation Panel featuring Festival Director Al Nigrin and Filmmakers Owen Andrejco, Myra Sito Velasquez, Evan Bode, and Heidi Kumao.
Emmy-nominated, Tony and Grammy Award-winning actor/director Jason Alexander to Lead Acting Masterclass on Long Beach Island

Emmy-nominated, Tony and Grammy Award-winning actor/director Jason Alexander to Lead Acting Masterclass on Long Beach Island

(LONG BEACH ISLAND, NJ) -- The Lighthouse International Film Festival (LIFF) presents a rare five-day acting masterclass led by acclaimed actor and director Jason Alexander, taking place June 7–11, 2026 on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, just prior to the opening of the Festival's 18th edition, which runs June 10–14.
2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Short Film Video Panel

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Short Film Video Panel

Here is the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Short Film Video Panel that features Festival Director Al Nigrin and NJIFF Official Selection filmmakers: Jen Nista, Max Beckerman, David Arrow and Gianfranco and Stefania Bello.

 

MORE EVENTS

Click on the listing to bring up its webpage


Middle Life, Sundays & Counterfeit Kids – In-Person at 7PM!

Saturday, May 30, 2026 @ 7:00pm
NJ International Film Festival
New Brunswick, NJ


Phenomenon of Ivan Marchuk & Theater of the Absurd – Online for 24 Hours!

Saturday, May 30, 2026 @ 12:00am
NJ International Film Festival
New Brunswick, NJ


Shorts Program #1: Godzilla’s Day Off, Paper Crane, 35 Days, I Exist, Pizza Man, Prison and Time, Dustsceawung & Miracle Under 34th Street – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 7PM!

Saturday, May 30, 2026 @ 7:00pm
NJ International Film Festival
New Brunswick, NJ


Star Wars: The Last Jedi in Concert with New Jersey Symphony

Sunday, May 31, 2026 @ 2:00pm
State Theatre New Jersey
New Brunswick, NJ


What We Dreamed of Then – Online for 24 Hours!

Sunday, May 31, 2026 @ 12:00am
NJ International Film Festival
New Brunswick, NJ



 

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